The Three Statues
by E-Kiarlic
Summary: Sequel to "It's not over yet"! Only three months after the whole incident, Natalie and Silas have more unfinished business to attend to! With Robert in Vatican City, will they be able to solve the mysteries themselves? Silas/OC, some Robert/Sophie! R&R!
1. The Private Call

**A/N:** Well, I'm back! I have decided to finally continue on making a sequel to It's Not Over Yet. I will try to make it more Silas/Natalie, though I can't promise much of it in the beginning. ;) I'm sorry that the first chapter has a lot of information without much action, but I wanted to update everyone. :)

**Disclaimer:** Alas, I still do not own anything that is related to Da Vinci Code or anything from Dan Brown. I only own my ideas and characters.

* * *

The sun was shining brightly this day. It's been a few months since the first time Natalie Dubois had met Silas and the future seemed as bright as the sun. Since then, Silas had thought about leaving Opus Dei completely. Every day that he spent there made him feel less special. Many people had preferred Roger and everyone loved Bishop Aringarosa. They seemed to feel like Silas was guilty for all the bad publicity they got.  
Before, he felt like the numeraries were respectful towards him, but he was a black sheep once again.

Silas jumped up, waking up from a reoccurring nightmare. He just couldn't stop seeing the faces of the people he had killed. He stood up and was a little disoriented at first. How could he suffer his punishment if he couldn't use the Discipline or his Cilice? If only he could talk to the man who saved his life without getting yelled at. He thought back at what happened just last month.

_When the Bishop's sentence was over, the whole Opus Dei Headquarters was holding a welcoming party. Everyone started asking questions about how prison life was like and if he managed to teach any inmates about God. Silas couldn't resist in seeing him again, so he stood in a corner, just watching._

_"Silas, my son!" the chubby man said as he approached him with open arms. "I am so happy that you are still here!"_

_"Why... wouldn't I be?" Silas asked, simply letting the man hug him. He was still a little hurt from what Manuel Aringarosa has done before._

_"Well, I was afraid that I'd let that heathen get her hands on you while I was gone..." the Bishop stepped back, noticing that Silas tensed up almost instantly. Instead of reacting too rashly, he tried the breathing exercise that he was taught by Natalie. After a few long breaths, he could think clearly._

_"You shouldn't call her that." He said simply, almost smiling. It was only because he was proud of himself being able to calm down, but Manuel didn't know that._

_"Well, I'm proud of you Silas. I hope you didn't harm yourself too much in forgetting her?" Bishop Aringarosa asked._

_"I... I don't use that anymore..." Instantly, he regretted telling him that. Right away, Manuel led him out of the main room and into a room across the hall. There, he started a long lecture about how he was wrong and unholy. His screams actually attracted a few others to peek in. This was only the second time that the older man had lost his temper with him. The first time was when he had just begun living with him and was having some doubts._

Snapping back to reality, Silas touched the small box left by his bed. The Bishop had brought him a new Discipline and a new Cilice in it.

"Today's a new day."

To escape from this environment, he went to help out at Saint Paul's Church almost everyday. He loved being accepted and seeing Natalie. It was hard at first, especially since Sister Augustine remembered him with a gun. After a long explanation from Natalie and a few weeks of hard volunteer work, she came to trust the monk.

Natalie walked inside the church on this cold weekend. It was now January and the meteorologists had predicted one of the coldest winters that the west of Europe has ever seen in the last 100 years. She took off her coat and went to hang it in the church's closet. After replacing her boots with her shoes, she went to see Sister Augustine.

"Good morning Sister!" Natalie greeted her with a big smile.

"Good morning! You are early today!" Sister Augustine noted. She always came in the morning on weekends, but today she arrived an hour earlier.

"I just couldn't sleep this morning", she answered with a laugh. "I guess it's the weather."

"Yes, that's probably it. You aren't the only one here already..." the nun smiled, pointing to the other room.

Both women walked over where someone was dusting all of the pews and removing any dried pieces of gum left under the seats. Even from the back, Natalie recognized that white hair instantly.

"Silas? Why are you up so early?" She ran over to him, simply giving him a tap on the back. Neither of them ever exchanged hugs or even any signs of friendship in front of Sister Augustine. They weren't sure how she would react, but it would obviously be negatively.

Turning around, he dusted off his robe and smiled. "I don't know, I just woke up this morning all of a sudden."

"I'm sure you're both excited to meet the new children!" Sister Augustine said, looking over at a small calendar that was hanging next to the main doors. Every Saturday morning, there were children that were dropped off to spend the weekend at church. Some parents seemed to think of this as a free babysitting service, so there were new kids every week.

After finishing all of their morning chores, Silas approached Natalie. "Natalie, I have to tell you something. I have been thinking and..."

All of a sudden, they heard little voices murmuring from the entrance of the church. Natalie thought he would tell her quickly, but he just shook his head and walked away to the kids' room. As usual, she went out to talk to the children before they met Silas. She had been doing so from the beginning, so that they wouldn't call him a ghost.

"Good morning! My name is Natalie! I hope you're ready for an awesome weekend with us!" She started, getting down on her knees to talk to them face to face. "We have a special helper here. You know how angels are usually shown on TV and on drawings?"

All the kids nodded and one young girl started talking, seeming proud to know the answer: "Well, they're all white and and... they are strong and kind! And and... umm... They have wings and... umm... they fly? and ummm..."

"That's a great answer!" Natalie said, not wanting the girl to continue too long, as the other kids were restless. "Our special helper has most of those characteristics, so I'm sure you'll all love him!"

When she saw that the kids seemed intrigued and excited, she decided that they were as ready as they'll ever be. "Well, let's go to the kids room and you can all meet him!"

Entering the room, the kids all left running at him, most of them hugging his legs. She heard the many wows and laughter as the children asked him hundreds of questions.

"Can you fly? ... Can I be an angel like you? ... Can you make me fly?" All the little ones jumped all around him. Silas never understood why the kids here always seemed to think of him as an angel and not the scary ghost some others called him. Natalie had decided to keep her method as a secret.

She looked out the window at the snow for a moment of peace when she heard a squeal. Turning back, she noticed that Silas had put a child on his shoulders and running around the room. The little boy had stretched his hands out like if he was flying. All the others seemed to be waiting in line to be next.

Suddenly, the church shook a little. Sister Augustine helped Natalie in calming the children that were still waiting.

"What was that...?" Natalie wondered, reaching for her cell phone which just lit up. It was probably an earthquake and someone was going to ask her if she felt that. "Hello?"

"Did you feel that Miss Dubois?" Asked an unfamiliar voice.

"Yes...? Who is this?" She looked at the phone number, where it only indicated the word Private Call.

"If you care about the children and everyone inside the church, you will listen to me."

* * *

A small cliffhanger to begin with. :) Sorry about not writing the sequel for so long! Please read & review!


	2. The Mafia?

A/N: I'm actually trying to write as many of the chapters that I can before the classes at university starts. :) Then, my writing will slow down significantly.

Disclaimer: Alas, I still do not own anything that is related to Da Vinci Code or anything from Dan Brown. I only own my ideas and characters.

* * *

_"If you care about the children and everyone inside the church, you will listen to me."  
_

"What? It wasn't an earthquake? Who_ is_ this?" Natalie bombarded him with questions, trying to keep her tone low enough so that no one else would hear.

"You want proof, eh?" Instantly, there was a small explosion outside the building, throwing up piles of snow at the church. The children seemed excited as they looked outside, but the adults weren't.

"Okay, Okay! I got it..." She didn't know what to expect anymore. "I'm listening..."

"Good. There are small explosives inside the church as well. You must find what I am looking for to spare the lives of everyone inside." As she heard that, Natalie went pale. Next to the children, Silas looked over at her, wondering what was wrong.

Not waiting for an answer, the stranger continued: "I've heard that you were a friend of Robert Langdon and have already solved some riddles with him?"

"But I didn't really do that much... He's the one that did most of the solving!" She answered, knowing that it was true. ~_How does he know about those few riddles?_~ she wondered.

"He is unattainable right now, but he will join you sometime later... You can call him yourself if you want." The caller's voice let on that he was in a good mood. "To accept this quest, simply take your things and leave for the day. Meet my accomplice on the corner of the street, next to the stop sign."

"Wait! What do I tell the others?" Natalie glanced back at Sister Augustine that had now began to play with the children.

"I'm sure you'll make something up. Oh and, by the way... I don't mind you bringing help along, as long as it isn't the Police..." With that, the stranger hung up.

Natalie walked over to tell Sister Augustine that she needed to leave right away to help a relative who was hurt this morning. The nun was going to ask questions, but she decided to keep them for later. The young woman said bye to the disappointed children and walked off. As she was putting on her boots, Silas peeked into the room.

"Where are you really going?" He asked as he took his warm cloak off the coat hanger and put it on.

"I should be asking you the same question." She answered with a smile. "Where are you off to?"

"I'm going with you...?" It was more of a statement than a question, as Silas started putting on some low-cut boots of his own.

"That's nice of you to say, but you should stay with the kids." Natalie kept smiling, hoping that he will get the hint. She wasn't going to get him involved with some lunatic.

"They'll survive without me. Where are we going?" He asked.

She simply turned to him, crossing her arms. After all these months of knowing each other, she had noticed that he was really stubborn. If he thought something was wrong, he just didn't seem to let go of the problem. It was sweet and very annoying at the same time. Suddenly, she wondered if the caller had known that someone would go with her, especially with his last comment. She just shook it off for now. Knowing that a lie will simply anger him and it will be hard to keep up with it if he'll follow anyway, she decided to tell him the truth. Natalie told him about the call and what the odd man had said. Silas simply nodded as he listened.

"Well, let's go then." He said and started walking over to the front doors. "I won't be helping the kids more if I stay here."

Both exited into the cold weather. The sun didn't seem to help bring any warmth and distant clouds seemed to be approaching. Natalie glanced over at Silas, remembering how sad he was about a month ago. It had something to do with the Bishop being let out of jail earlier. She didn't ask any questions, knowing that he would have told her if she wanted. All he seemed to say was that Aringarosa had been upset with him. A cold wind blew some snow in her face, which returned her to the present. On the corner of the street, there was a tall man standing in an expensive tailored suit. He was also wearing a thick scarf, which was the only winter clothing item he had on. Noticing the two people, he nodded, holding out a cell phone in his hand. He had black hair and dark green eyes. He introduced himself simply as Joey.

"What's this?" Natalie wondered, knowing that she had her own cell phone.

"It's a cell phone." The man said, smirking.

"Yes, but I already have one." She tried hiding her annoyance, but it was a hard.

"The Boss said that you will have to call through this cell phone now. It will monitor your calls so that you won't call the Police." He explained, suspiciously eyeing Silas, who was quite taller than him. "Will he be coming with us?"

"His name's Silas." She nodded, actually happy that he was insistent on accompanying her. Traveling alone with this stranger would be nerve wracking.

Joey simply shrugged and walked to a car. It looked like a Cadillac. ~_Whoever that caller was, he must be quite rich._~ Natalie thought as she sat down in the back seat. Silas sat next to her, still silent. He was probably observing every little detail just in case. The car sped off into some unknown direction. After ten minutes of silence, Joey cleared his throat.

"We need three ancient statues. One of them was found by our last... _helper_. Surprisingly, he vanished and appeared dead three days later." Glancing back at the two in the back of the car so that they understand the hint. "You two also have three days, but you have to find only two statues now. This should be quite easy."

"How do we find them?" Silas finally spoke up, actually startling everyone.

"Here's a photo of the statue and another of what was written on the bottom of it. We're going to stop by a library if you need to search for some ideas. After that, I'll drive you two to the next destination." Joey handed them the two photos.

The statue was a small roman emperor, seemingly made out of stone. He had one hand on his chest, right above his heart. It had very good details, even though there was a note next to it that showed that it was only 20cm of height. The emperor looked quite familiar, but Natalie wasn't going to guess without a quick look at a book about Rome. On the bottom of it, there was an inscription:

_This emperor will show you that,_  
_Which statue you are seeking,_  
_Whose people all revered a cat,_  
_And also didn't serve a king._

Natalie looked away after glancing at the inscription, because she felt carsick whenever she read in a travelling car. She passed the two photos to Silas, who quickly started to try and figure it out. ~_If only I would know more about History... I don't want to be useless..._~ He thought as he observed the photos.

"Why do you need these anyway? Are they valuable or something?" She asked the driver.

"None of your business." He answered angrily. "You just find it."

She wondered if these were valuable statues that the Mafia wanted. She just couldn't stop thinking about when Joey said 'The Boss' and felt like she was in The Godfather. Looking over at the man, she observed him, wondering if she was right. He seemed like someone who was quite rich and was used to giving orders. It felt weird, because she never guessed that a man from the Mafia would look so typical. The car itself wasn't cheap... But why in the world would the Mafia ask _her_ for help?

Silas noticed that Natalie was watching Joey for a while and felt his blood pressure go up. He couldn't help asking himself why would she be staring at him for so long. Does she like him? Accidentally, he thought back at what Father had said to him, saying that he was like a homeless person and women didn't like bums. He shook his head, stopping the memory from progressing. He simply closed his eyes and started the breathing exercise again.

"See something you like?" Joey asked with a smirk, both passengers snapping out of their thoughts.

"Pfff, as if..." Natalie answered, simply looking out the window and crossing her arms. She didn't notice the quiet monk's confused expression, who was obviously not too reassured.

Suddenly, the car halted to an abrupt stop.

* * *

I'm actually still wondering what job Natalie should have, which will affect the story in the middle of the story. :) If you have any suggestions, feel free to post it or send me a message. ;)  
Reviews help stimulate my brain! xD *hint hint*


	3. Trouble Brewing

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I took -_SO_- long to update! I was running low on inspiration and on energy, but now, I'm back and I'll try to update once a week or every two weeks max!

I also made this chapter longer than usual to say sorry to my lovely readers and reviewers! :( There is more action to come later, so sit tight and enjoy the ride! :)

+-+  
Previously on The Three Statues:

__

Suddenly, the car halted to an abrupt stop.

* * *

Natalie had gripped onto the door handle, still recovering from the surprise. Silas looked like he was a little surprised as well, but he shook it off in seconds.

"We're here." Joey said, pointing outside. There was a big building, with many floors and windows. On the front of it, there was a sign with the words: Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris.

All three stepped out of the car and walked up the stairs of the library. Luckily, there weren't many people, so Natalie wouldn't have to worry about them getting hurt by this mobster. The special computers with the library's archives were on, so she walked over to one of them. She wrote a few keywords and started looking through the results. One of them seemed to jump out at her. It was a book named 'Short Descriptions and Images of Roman Emperors'.

Smiling, she wrote down the number of the book and walked over to the section that indicated where the historical books were. The number was HIST 32-41-93-71-81 and there were about a dozen rows. Suddenly, feeling nervous, she just couldn't seem to concentrate.

"I... um..." Natalie stopped, trying to keep her thoughts concentrated. She had a tough time in admitting that she couldn't do something when she felt so sure at first. "Uh..."

She jumped up in shock when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking back, she saw that it was Silas. He had a small encouraging smile on his face.

"It's okay, let me find it." He reached out for the piece of paper that she had, which she reluctantly let go.

"Thanks." She said as she and Joey followed him. It hurt her pride when she couldn't do everything, but it was easier to actually let Silas feel useful.

After reaching the aisle, they finally found the book. It looked like an old copy, but had a brand new number tag on it. ~_This must have been a new arrival. We're lucky that it came right before us coming here!_~ Natalie thought as she opened it and flipped through the pages. She went from the beginning of the book, where she thought that she would find the right image. Thankfully, she found the right image and showed the page to the two men.

"Julius Caesar?" Joey asked when he had read the name under the photo of a statue. It really did look like the small statue they had with them.

"Yes and I think I know what this clue is about!" Natalie was almost glowing with happiness from figuring it out. "You see, he already loved Cleopatra, who was the queen of Egypt for a while. Also, Egyptians did think that cats were sacred!"

She was a little too happy knowing that she understood, since Joey didn't seem too impressed. In fact, he looked annoyed.

"So what does this mean?" He glared at her. "Where do we go now?"

"Oh." She stopped, her mind going blank for a second. _~He's right. Where do we go?~_

Silas hated this situation, where he couldn't really do anything to stop this whole process. If only the church wasn't held hostage, he'd fight to get Natalie safe and away from Joey. In times like these, what helped him was to look around quickly, just to maybe get an idea of what to do next. His eyes widened when he saw some posters on the wall close to them.

"Look, I suggest you to think very hard or I'll-" Joey's threat was cut short when Silas spoke up, pointing to the posters.

"We need to go there!" He said and started walking over to it.

"Silas, you're a genius!" Natalie smiled when she read what was written on the yellow poster. It had information about a new museum exhibit that featured a few mummies and special artifacts related to Cleopatra. The museum's address was on the bottom of the poster, but was slightly ripped. She crossed her fingers for it to be the full address.

"Alright, let's go. It might take us a while to get there." Joey pushed the two towards the front door.

Silas' anger was growing from how the man was treating them, but he could simply glare at the moment.

"Here, you sit in front to help with the directions." Joey opened the front passenger door for Natalie.

"Um... okay." She felt really uncomfortable, but as she thought when she first met Silas, always try to cooperate with criminals so that no problems might occur. Otherwise, he can just hurt them and still get them to do what he wanted from the start. She sat down and saw him close the door.

"You, you can sit in the back or just stay here. I don't think that we'll need you." Joey smirked at Silas as he passed him. "I'm sure she'd prefer only going with me."

With that, Silas couldn't hold back and pushed him into the car's side. "You stay away from her!" He muttered through gritted teeth.

"Silas! Let him go, we need to hurry to find the next statue!" Natalie's head poked out of the car. She didn't hear what Joey or Silas had said, so she didn't know why he would react that way now. _~Maybe he's just tired of being pushed around?~_

"You heard her." The man said, pushing Silas away from him and sitting down in the driver's seat. Silas sighed and quickly got in the backseat before the car left.

"You know, being uncooperative and aggressive like that isn't really good for you two." the driver noted, looking over at Natalie with a frown.

She merely nodded in response, peeking at the rear-view mirror to see Silas in the reflection. It's been a while that she hasn't seen him this angry. It was actually a little scary to see him this way, as it reminded her of when she just met him or when he got angry to see her when she put on all of that makeup to have ultra-light skin like him. ~_When this is over, we will visit the church children and their smiles will make everything right again_.~ she hoped.

* * *

After a few hours of silence, the cell phone that she received from Joey rang. He glanced at her quickly, indicating that she should answer.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Who's this?" some man asked. It wasn't the same one who she talked to on the phone before.

"Um, this is Natalie?"

"Listen broad, shut up and lemme talk to Joey." he seemed quite agitated, so she looked over to the man next to her.

"Some rude guy wants to talk to you." She said as she reached out and passed him the cell phone. She wasn't one to support driving and talking on a cell phone at the same time, but she didn't know what else to do in this case.

"Yeah?" Joey was listening and it seemed like someone was screaming at him. "... No, it's not time." After a while, he added: "I'm working, go actually do something yourself!" He hung up and tossed the cell phone back to Natalie. It rang again, but he told her to press the 'Ignore' button every single time.

"Who was that?" She was quite curious about who it was and why did there seem to be a problem.

"None of your business!" He yelled all of a sudden. "I told you. Do not ask stupid questions, okay?"

* * *

All this time, Silas felt worthless and helpless once again. He couldn't say anything to help, couldn't protect Natalie or get them out of the situation. All he could do now was pray and try to think of a way to possibly get away. If it was Joey's plan to do this to Silas, it had worked, because he thought that he was only bothering them.

_~Women can be easily bought Silas!~ _He accidentally remembered one of the days where Bishop Aringarosa had lectured him on an on. ~_What can you offer her? I'm sure that a good-looking businessman would sweep her off her feet and you'd never hear from her again_!~

_"You're wrong, you don't know Natalie." Was all that he could say to answer him. The bishop continued on, saying that he knew more people, women included and had more experience talking to people who had problems. ~Trust me, I know this better than you do~, he would say to him each time._

"Silas, stop it!" An angry voice woke him from his memories. Looking at Natalie, he saw disapprovement and sadness in her eyes. Looking down at his arm, he saw that he had held it so hard that there was a blue mark appearing. "You promised me you would try to stop hurting yourself like this."

"I..."

He couldn't finish his sentence when a big shock hit the car and sent it spinning. After that, everything went black.

* * *

Here you go! :) I wonder what and why that happened? :O Please continue to read and review, as it helps keep my strength up and to write when I have university-level homework! xD


	4. In the Snow

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything from Dan Brown! :)

**Author's Note**: Arg, I'm very sorry for this really long break! I hope none of you died from anticipation... :( I'll definitely write 2-3 more this winter break in a couple of weeks and will be updating/rewriting the other fanfiction, "It's Not Over Yet".

Also, feel free to tell me what you'd like me to concentrate on as I'm not always sure how detailed to get or how much Silas/Natalie stuff to put in. :) Enjoy!

* * *

All was silent, except for a quiet and ongoing hiss. Natalie opened her eyes and felt like everything was still spinning. "What...? Uh..." Was the only thing she could say as she tried to get a grip on the situation and what happened. She automatically unbuckled her seat-belt and pushed her way out of the car. Still feeling the world spinning, she fell down into the cold snow.

The hiss of the car continued as snowflakes slowly drifted to down from the sky.

Finally coming to her senses, Natalie pushed herself off the ground to take a look around. The road they were previously on was up the hill and the skid marks seemed to have been buried under the constant snowfall. Turning back to the car, it seemed to have a huge dent in its back left side. ~_Good thing no one was sitting on that side..._~ She started thinking when she suddenly remembered who was sitting in the back. ~_Silas!_~

She looked inside the car, only to see the backseat empty and the door flung open. Natalie turned around, trying to find him.  
"Silas? Where are you?" She called out, with no response.

Finally, she saw him further up on the hill. ~_He must have flown out of the car as it spun!_~ Worried thoughts went through her head as she reached him.

"Silas! Please, wake up!" Natalie hugged him and dusted off the snow on his face. He still had a heartbeat, albeit a slow one and was breathing, so she wasn't sure what else to do now. "Please don't leave me..."

* * *

Elsewhere, a telephone rang. The room was filled with diverse artwork dating back from hundreds of years. Countless books filled the shelves. A old man sat at a desk, examining a new piece of art. He let the phone ring 2 more times before he answered it.

"Hello?" He asked in an annoyed tone. "I hope you have news for me."

"There was a bump in the plan." The caller answered.

"...What happened?"

"Same thing that happened with the first guy we had."

"Again? This is most unfortunate." The older man looked outside the window for a few seconds and sighed. "Well, go get them then, we'll worry about this later."

"Did the Boss have any more news for me?" The caller seemed to be anxious all of a sudden.

"No, get back to work and don't mess up again!" The man slammed the phone down.

~_They have bothered us for the last time. We'll have to do something about them..._~ He thought as his attention turned back to the artwork on the desk.

* * *

Back in the snow, nothing seemed different. Natalie remained with Silas, hoping to get some reaction.  
"Please don't do this to me, I..." She continued on but stopped short when a hand reached out to wipe away her tears.

"Na...Nat...?" He seemed confused. She had so much snow on her he thought he had died and gone to heaven.

She hugged him, her laugh still showing how anxious she has been. "I'm so glad you're awake! I thought I lost you... Do you remember what happened? Are you hurt?"

"Are you okay?" He simply shrugged off the last question and asked it back. He wasn't the least bit concerned about himself at the moment.

Natalie laughed with a nod. She was so relieved he was alright even if they just went through such an ordeal. Silas gently caressed her face, oblivious to the cold now. Both leaned in closer for a kiss.

Suddenly, the sound of a nearby explosion made both recoil and jump up in surprise. Black smoke was now coming out from under the car hood. She got up and stretched her arm out to help Silas up. He stood up too and looked back at the car. ~_What timing..._~ He thought and shook his head.

"We've got to get Joey out!" Natalie said as she walked back towards the car.

"Why?" He couldn't understand why they would save some criminal that threatened them just moments ago.

"Two reasons. One, he's a human being and two, we might get blamed for this!"

"How can we be blamed for the car getting hit?" The annoyance in his voice was obvious now.

"I could have grabbed the wheel and caused us to hit a random car." She said simply.

"It's too dangerous." He grabbed her hand, trying to pull her away from the smoking car.

"Well, I've decided." Natalie got out of his grip and ran over to the driver's seat.

She pulled Joey out, who had a bruise and cut on his left temple. He mumbled something as she dragged him off away from the made a snowball with her hands and put it to his head. He stirred a little more, but the cold finally worked as intended and he woke up.

"What happened?" Joey sat up and noticed the car's condition. Almost on cue, the smoke stopped momentarily and the whole car was suddenly engulfed in flames. "You... you saved me?" When he saw her nod, he quickly added: "Why?"

Silas had the same question in his head. He would have rather had him die in the flames. Instantly, he felt some regret in thinking that. Bishop Aringarosa would have reprimanded him for wishing someone dead and he would have agreed. He couldn't understand why he was sinning again. ~_Jealousy is a sin._~ He heard in his head and took a deep breath to concentrate back on the situation.

"Can't let someone die, now can I?" She said nonchalantly. "Could you call someone to get us out of the cold?"

Joey nodded and took her walked away from them as he dialed a number and whispered something they couldn't hear. "The car's already on the way and almost here."

They didn't have to wait a long time as a new, yet very similar, car pulled up to the spot on the road where they were before the car slid downhill. The fire from the car also helped warm up their environment.

Joey opened the backdoor for Silas to get in and next Natalie. As she went in, Joey whispered in her ear "Thank you". She tried ignoring it, but she couldn't help but blush from the awkwardness. This didn't go unnoticed by Silas, who had his doubts once again. Her silence didn't help as she just looked out the window and was warming up from the car's heating system.

"Next stop, the Egyptian exhibit." Joey said and slammed the door shut as he went to sit in front with his "colleague".

* * *

Hehe, just when they had a cute scene, the car just had to explode. :P Sorry about it, but they'll have more cute scenes as we go on. ;)

Please review and let me know if I'm on the right track or if I should improve some aspects of it! You're all awesome!


	5. Cleopatra's Clue

**A/N:** Hey all! Sorry for the short delay, a lot of last minute pre-Christmas events had to be done before finishing this chapter. :P This is my Christmas present for you!  
Also, just an interesting fact, when I write from Silas' point of view or his memories, I like to listen to the St. Sulpice soundtrack song from the Da Vinci Code video game. You can find it on Youtube (if you put Winifred Phillips you'll be able to find it for sure) if you want to have the background music for reading his thoughts, hehe. :P The game has great graphics (other than making Silas really creepy and scary), soundtracks and puzzles so let me know if you played it and we could discuss it! 

* * *

The ride seemed like it could go on forever. Silence had once again filled the car as Natalie seemed lost in thought as she held the cell phone. ~_What would Robert do in this situation?_~ She really hoped that something would jump out at them as a clue or as the actual statue itself. It was tempting to call him to see what he would suggest, but she didn't want to bring him into caller told her that he would join them later,which confused her even more.

She took a breath and decided to call him. After just one ring, it automatically said that the number she dialed was unavailable at the moment. It intrigued her as she knew that he always had his answering machine on.

Next to her, Silas sat looking out the window at the snow. He wasn't sure if it was still the effects of the car crash or if it was just him, but he felt like he couldn't concentrate on anything. This wasn't going to help them get closer to retrieving those statues, so he was silently praying to get better soon. As time went on, his thoughts started straying towards ideas for him and Natalie to escape somehow without endangering the Church, nor anyone inside it.

"Everything will be alright." a quiet reassuring voice said.

He snapped back to reality when Natalie put her hand on his. As a reflex, he pulled his hand away, regretting it instantly. ~_Idiot._~ Silas thought.

Natalie just smiled understandingly and looked back out the window on her side of the car, bringing her hand back to hold the cell always surprised her, but she should have gotten used to this by now. Silas would often either return her affection or sometimes he would shut off completely. She noticed it was usually the worst when he would just return from Opus Dei and wondered what they did to bring him back to that state.

A few minutes later, the car stopped. After seeing Joey get out, Natalie and Silas decided that they reached their destination so they followed suit. They stood outside a small museum. However, they were almost blinded by the snow, so it was difficult to tell whether the building was actually the size that it seemed from their viewpoint.

The three people rushed inside as fast as they could without stumbling or falling. Joey bought them all tickets as they finished shaking off the snow from their clothes and boots.

The museum was almost completely empty from visitors, something that was to be expected with this kind of weather. They walked around to see the artifacts.

"So, is the statue supposed to be the same size as the Roman one?" Silas asked cautiously.

"Probably, how should I know?" Joey sneered.

"Try and find ones that are of Cleopatra, it could help us narrow down the search." Natalie examined one of the statues on display from a distance.

Some time went by and one of the employees walked over to them. "Do you need some help? We have a tour guide who could show you around if you'd like." He tilted his head at a lady who seemed to be bored at a counter near the entrance. "We've got a great display about ancient Medieval times!"

"Thank you..." Natalie started, but when she saw Joey's angry expression, decided to reconsider help from the tour guide. "We're really just interested in looking at the Egyptian exhibit." The employee nodded and eyed Silas suspiciously before walking back towards the front desk.

"Could this be it?" the monk asked the others as he pointed to a small statue standing amidst the others. Just like the other statue, she had a hand held up to her heart.

"That's amazing, Silas, you found it!" Natalie couldn't help but feel excited, even though she wasn't sure how they could examine a museum artifact without getting in trouble.

"I wouldn't be so sure, you idiots..." Joey led them over to a small sign where there was more information about the artifacts. He read the description about the Cleopatra Statue: "This replica was donated by the generous collector Mr. Benjamin Lepayant, who owns the original."

"Well, let's just go see him and ask him if we can look at the statue!" She said as if it was simple. "I'm sure you have connections everywhere."

Joey grumbled something and pushed the pair towards the door, but not before taking a quick photo of the statue with his cell phone. Everyone braced themselves for the cold that awaited them outside as they walked towards the car. The dark vehicle was almost completely covered in snow by two men from the Mafia quietly spoke with each other and made calls in the front seats. Joey turned back to them and smirked at Silas. "I just learned you were almost pinched, huh?"

"Pinched?" Silas went blank, not sure what he meant by that.

"Oh, I meant arrested." Joey simply shrugged.

"How..."

"Silas." Natalie nudged him, trying to stop him from confirming Joey's thoughts.

"No need to say anything, I know. The broad was right in saying that I have many connections." Joey smirked once again. "I'm surprised the cops didn't pursue their search after some Roger guy supposedly confessed to it. Who'd want to be a guest of the state for nothing..?" He then dialed another number and talked into his phone as the car continued on. Once it seemed like the two men in the front seats changed their focus on the road and a conversation in another language, Silas leaned closer to Natalie.

"How could he know that? Almost no one is supposed to know about it." he whispered.

"Well, I know I didn't say anything to anyone... The only people are you, me, Sophie, Robert, Bishop Aringarosa and..." Natalie stopped as a realization hit her. "Robert isn't answering his phone!"

"Maybe it's Bishop Aringarosa... He was let out of prison early afterall..." Silas would never think that he could be betrayed by him, someone who was like a father to him, but it was more to help Natalie change her train of thought from what she may have been worrying about.

"But why would he say that when he was happy that you were spared from jail?" She barely remembered that they shouldn't raise their voices too much to draw the attention to their conversation. It didn't seem logical to her, but she was surprised Silas would even suggest that. No matter what that bishop would do to him or anyone else, he always defended him from the smallest accusations or hints of his flaws. ~Did something happen recently?~ She wondered, but didn't dare ask that as she saw that he went quiet.

The car slowed to a halt and everyone looked outside their digital clock in the car showed 9:59pm, showing how quickly the day had gone by. The two men in front nodded at each other and locked the doors from the outside by turning on the "childproof" function of the car. "You two stay in the car and we'll be back with the statue in no time. Do not even attempt to leave the car or there will be consequences." Joey insisted and slammed the door shut.

"As if we'd have somewhere to go in this weather." Natalie chuckled a little to try to lighten the mood, but admittedly, it didn't really work. She remembered Robert again and decided to call him. This time the phone was actually ringing and suddenly she heard someone answer.

"Natalie? I'm sorry, I can't talk, it's urgent... I'll call you ba-" Robert was cut off when there were some gunshots heard close by. The line went dead.

"He's in some sort of trouble! I think I heard something else too... A fire?" She shook her head, trying to change her thoughts.

The next couple of minutes, they talked about what this could mean. A gunshot heard in the distance stopped them. They sat in silence as shadows of approaching people were seen on the windows. The door on Silas' side opened up and Joey threw him the statue of Cleopatra. He then walked around, sat in the front seat and when his colleague started the car, they departed very quickly. The two passengers started looking for any clues found on the statue.

"Did you kill him?" Natalie asked the two gangsters, though it was more of a statement.

"Don't ask anything you don't want to hear the answer for." Joey said under his breath.

"Natalie, look at this." Silas showed the newly discovered text under the statue.

I_nsightful_  
S_ociety,_  
B_arbaric too,_  
N_umbers..._  
9_781931414050_

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So, what's happening with Robert? :P I found a website with supposed Mafia lingo, so pardon any mistakes! Any guesses on where this next clue leads them next?_ Read and Review, I love all comments!_


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